Kender Funerals
by Kipper Snifferdoo
Kender view the Death as the The Last Great Adventure. This is not to say that
every kender has a death wish, (although this has been suggested on more than
one occasion). Many kender are not buried at home. Most of them begin that Last
Great Adventure, while they are on wanderlust and
although they call it a Great Adventure, death is a hard thing to take for kender.
They are very easily affected by the loss of a friend or loved one. The normally
cheerful kender may be very depressed for days or weeks getting over the loss
of a love one.
In kender society funerals usually occur for older kender...the beloved grannies
and pappies. In these occasions most kender that were close friends or family
will bawl their eyes out for the longest time and are sad and sulking for the
rest of the day at least.
The deceased's possessions are divided among the immediate family as "heirlooms"
and each family member and friend present offers some small tribute of some
kind to the departed. A time honored tradition is to give a map pouch with a
quill and ink and a blank scroll to chart the departed's new travels on. There
is always at least one pouch left empty for the deceased to fill in the afterlife.
Customs differ on whether a kender is buried or cremated depending on the location
of the kender settlement. In kender tree cities a kender is cremated along with
something precious to him and scattered to the winds (symbolic of the journey
he now takes). Part of the day is then spent telling stories about the deceased,
the length of this time determined by how interesting a life they had. In larger
kender villages and cities it is unusual to find cemeteries. Most of the time
if a kender is buried, they are taken far from the village to a spot chosen
by the family or friends, that may have been a special place or just a place
of great beauty or peace. So that the deceased's spirit may begin his/her journey
from this spot. In Hylo it is not uncommon for a des ceased kender to be set
adrift upon a flaming raft. Each town will have it's own particular custom.
All kender funerals are a sad time, with an undertone of hope for a friend
who has moved on, perhaps to something better.
The Kender Mourning Song
Always before, the spring returned.
The bright world in its cycle spun
In air and flowers, grass and fern,
Assured and cradled by the sun.
Always before, you could explain
The turning darkness of the earth,
And how that dark embraced the rain,
And gave the ferns and flowers birth.
Already I forget those things,
And how a vein of gold survives
The mining of a thousand springs,
The seasons of a thousand lives.
Now winter is my memory,
Now autumn, now the summer light-
So every spring from now will be
Another season into night.
I would like to thank the following people for helping out with creating the
info on kender funerals:Patch Flameknot, Only Thornbriar, Jubilee Wanderdust,
Footloose Pillywinkle, Foxworthy Butterfiddle, Lyn Swiftfoot, Bramble Moonwillow,
Que Dewdrop, Kiran Talersus, & Kerioff Thistlesilk.
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